CrosshairCollie

In a regular supers setting, I don't even roll attacks for normals. They either bounce or miss. If a super-being attacks a normal, they're just out cold (or whatever effect of said attack would be if not damaging). All normal objects and people have a double-BODY and double-STUN (if applicable) Vulnerability to super-powers or super-tech ... this is my way of letting supers do things like smash tanks in a single shot without running a 1000 point game. So, basically, normals are props.

Thank you very much.

You don't want to get in to it? Who in the heck do you think you are? I could care less what you want to get into, bub. The moment the posted the article you became fair game for comments. No one cares what you want to get into and it's a free country where I live. Your article certainly seems to take shots at a lot of systems and put down a lot of games. Are you an avid RPGer? Owning a book and playing are two different things every system has it's faults. I would like to point out that you seem to get lost on a lot of systems. Do you GM less and play more? You wrote the article and I pointed out some other matters that you completely ignored that in all honesty it's not just Champions/HERO system but the RPG industry, in general. There are plenty of guys who have been around just as long if not longer. AC is pretty easy to get a complete run of it. Collector wise it is not that impressive. Wow, your letter made it into a comic book your Mom must be proud. That is almost as good as Pulitzer, I am sorry I got out of line and questioned you. Did any of your letters make it to the North Pole too? Looks like he called that whole 'devolve' thing right on the nose. And it's "I couldn't care less". If you could care less, there's a chance of you still caring.

I've certainly considered it, but then I've considered quitting gaming in general lately; I just don't have the drive anymore. And, yes, gaming in general has gotten more complicated, and part of that is to sell books (which is why gaming companies exist). A part of me actually likes that, but most people I know don't, and have no interest whatsoever in actually learning HERO, so in many ways I'm both the GM and the players. I have to make all the characters, explain all the rules ... it gets tiring, and is probably the cause of my burnout. I get a game idea, then I think that I'll have even MORE to do ...

I take as few as possible, typically only ones that are essentially required by the special effects ('not in rain/underwater/no oxygen' for fire powers, f'rex). Miscellaneous stuff like activation rolls or whatever I avoid; I'd rather do, say, 12d6 damage consistently than 15d6 with a chance of blowing that activation roll at a critical moment.

Most of the cast of the Young Justice TV show (Kid Flash and Zatanna would likely need some toning down, though) From the JLU: Booster Gold B'wana Beast Hawk and Dove Mr. Terrific (uses supertech, and is smart enough for his INT to qualify as a superpower) Vixen Gypsy Hourman Fire and Ice (might need toned down) Vibe Really, you can tone down most any superhero to fit in a street-level game ... the main thing is avoiding powers that you rarely if ever see in that kind of setting. Full Desolidification and broad-access Mental Powers are the first to spring to mind.

Ah, yes, the storyline that gave us the line, "Only we could have 'most hated foes' that we've never even heard of."

Invulnerability would have to be part of the deal, or some other method of damage mitigation (elasticity, for example).

Anybody who could be described as an 'anti-hero'. Wolverine, Punisher, Lobo, and so forth, to say nothing of the outright 'villain protagonists' like Deadpool and Venom. For 'worst adaptation', I'd probably go with the Dr. Strange movies from the 70s. Psychadelic disco ...

Hard drive on main computer went kaput. Back now.

This is 90 percent of modern comic book characters (note I didn't say 'heroes') in a nutshell. And, yes, I have had players submit PCs with that exact phrasing. Needless to say, rejected.

I'm ticked off at the NY Knicks for winning their series. Barely two weeks after the Marathon bombing, they declare 'Boston's funeral' and show up dressed all in black to 'bury' the Celtics. Too soon, not cool, no class. I was desperately hoping they would go down in flames.

He could just buy a No-Range energy blast, and use it as part of a multiple-power attack with a punch.

Since the Force is just psychic powers, basically any telekinetic, telepathic, or clairvoyant power is applicable.

Yeah, for me, that falls into the category of 'more detail than I really need to enjoy a game'.

If the GM thinks the character is abusive, he says 'no', just like with every other single power construction in the game. That's kinda his job in HERO. HERO is the least balanced game system EVER. It has next to no internal balance ('the system says no'). Almost all of its balance is external ('the GM says no'). Saying 'That Multiform build you have is abusive' is no different from saying 'No, you can't spend all 400 character points on an Area of Effect Personally Immune Energy Blast'.

That's pretty much how I eat them ... I take off the top griddlecake and the egg and eat them separately.

Definitely fictional worlds. I can't imagine a real-history fantasy game being interesting at all. "Roll your PS: Rock Farmer, then make a CON check to see if you died of the plague." Plus, no magic, no monsters, no nonhumans ... if I wanted to deal with the real world, I'd go outside. I want my fantasy to be fantastic. The annoying irony is that I have a couple of players who insist on attempting real-world history into fictional game worlds. Drives me up the bloody wall. "Well, in medieval Europe, blah blah blah." "There's no Europe on Eberron. It doesn't matter." As far as the gender-thing goes, there's very little in the way of bigotry any direction in games I run. Typically, if you run into someone who is a bigot, you can be assured he's a villain I intend for you to beat into the ground.

Should be higher.

Now to see if I can finally post ... Incoming unpopular opinion. HERO is not balanced. It never has been, and that's intentional.. There is no internal ('the system says no') balance at all, only external ('the GM says no'). Want to spend all your character points on a huge Area of Effect Radius Penetrating Killing Attack? Nothing stopping you, except the guy behind the screen. That's how it was 'balanced' before; you explained your justification for wanting your stats where they were, and the GM ruled if they were too high based on the concept. That said, I suppose the question is, do they just not like it, or is it a dealbreaker? I don't LIKE the loss of Figured Characteristics, but it wouldn't be enough to stop me from playing in a game where they were gone. And as someone mentioned earlier, I believe, you can just set the no-longer-Figured-Characteristics to the appropriate levels based on what their STR, etc. is.

I had some insomnia last night, so I got up early and started dinking around on the computer. Not long after, my wife comes out of her bedroom to sleep on the couch; when her back starts hurting, she sleeps 'sitting up' against the arm of the chair. Since I'm awake, I help her with the blankets, and get a pillow for her back. While positioning the pillow, she adjusts the blanket ... and proceeds to elbow me square in the groin. Good morning to you too, dear.

How bad is my insomnia? I had to take Vicodin to get to sleep last night.

Well, pestering their deity isn't an issue, as there may not be a deity there to pester. If Eberron has gods, they don't manifest in any provable fashion. The power comes from Faith, not gods; by official word of the creator of the setting, if you believe strongly enough in your shoes, you get divine powers. This is why Ego makes sense to me; you have to 'convince yourself', in a manner of speaking, that what you believe is true.

Thinking about running an Eberron game using HERO System (which I think about a lot and never do, but nevermind that). Anyway, I'm pondering how to differentiate the three types of casting/manifesting. Normally I wouldn't mess with divine magic in a setting, but there's a whole freakin' country that revolves around it ... anyway. Fortunately, there are still 'D&Disms' I can jettison; it's going to be a rather loose conversion, not worrying about, say, daily resources and such. 1. Arcane, Divine, and Psionic are different for the sake of adjustment powers. 2. Arcane Power skill is based on INT, Divine on EGO, Psionic on ... CON? Arcanists don't need different skills for different schools; easy dabbling makes sense for Eberron. I might even increase the spell-cost multiplier. 3. Now the hard part ... base limitations on powers. 3a. Divine requires OAF Holy Symbol. Since Eberron's gods are distant and non-interfering, if they even exist at all, 'religious restrictions' doesn't seem to fit. Perhaps Incantations but not Gestures. Not sure what to do for the END cost here ... maybe require Zero End? 3b. Psionic requires Concentration; END costs from their innate END. No gestures or incantations. 3c. Arcane requires Gestures and Incantations (never been a fan of the D&D 'pocket full of crap' material components). Arcane power comes from the MANA stat (from the 4e Fantasy Hero Companion 2). Somehow, this doesn't feel like enough. Any other thoughts?

Re: Foods for those that just don't care anymore I like tuna salad ... at least, my wife's tuna salad. Tuna, boiled egg, garlic, onion, mayo, and some sweet relish.